Air conditioner



Nov. 20, 1934. J. c. wxcHMANN AIR CONDITIONER Filed Feb. 2l

| lll Immun Patented Nov. 20, 1934 AIR CONDITIONER John c. Wichmann, chime, In. Application February 21, 1933, Serial No. 657,755

6Claims.

tion air conditioning system, and as such is more particularly a division and continuation in part of application Serial Number 634,871.

'I'he humidity of the air in particular sections of the country at all times and in the larger part of the country during the summer season is often too high for comfortable and healthful living. Air conditioning devices in general circulate the lo air of high humidity through the particular system in question and when vcooling the air as it passes through the system in effect raise the humidity for if the same amount of moisture remains in the .air at a lower temperature the percentage of moisture content is higher than originally, Passing this air into the room or other space in which the device is installed provides conditioned air which has a humidity too high for the most comfortable living conditions. 2o Although the air may be purined and cooled under these conditions, as may be readily understood the high humidity is objectionable, and the elective value of the air conditioning system is lessened. This condition has heen found particularly true on transcontinental trains on which air conditioning systems are installed, where the trains pass through various climates on a particular run. -ls the trains pass from a compara- -tively low humidity section to a high humidity 3o section the value oi the air conditioning system is practically nil.

It is an object of my invention to provide an air conditioning system having means for properly conditioning the air under varying degrees of humidity.

A further object is to provide an air conditioning system having positive means in the system for dehumidifying the air.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a dehumidifying substance installed in the system in a manner such that it may he readily replaced without interfering with a continued operation of said system.

A still further object is to provide a complete air conditioning system having dehumidifying means which may be cut in or out in the operation of the system according to the condition of theair fed to the aparatus andas comfortable living conditions dictate. I

A still further object is to provide an air conditioning system having positive air dehurnidfying means which system as a whole is simple in structure and inexpensive as to installation and operation.

Other'objects and advantages of the invention (Cl. 257-138) My invention relates in general to a combina--V will be apparent from a consideration of the following detailed deecription taken with the accom drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a portion of the apparatus and a full front view of a fragmentary portion of the reder thereof.

Fig. 2 is a i .'lentary end elevation partly in section illustrating l. r icularly the air spray and air dehumidif portions. Y.

Fig. 3 is a view oi' the air cui.. along the line 3 3 of l.

Fig. 4l is a cross-scotland view of the o pipe along the line lil-d of Fig. l..

In practising my invention 1 provide an air purifying and humidifying unit connected to an encased. 1:. i. heating Elftor or heating pipes with means operating to carry air from the room in. which thesystem is installed through said unit to be sprayed onto the coils of the radiator or pipes to cool or heat the air depending on whether the system is operated in :f1-1 er or winter and the radiator is cold or hot. Means are fumhermore provided within the casing enclosing the radiator positioned in the path of the air passing through the apparatus to dehumidify the air in cases where the .rm-. humidity of the air of the room isvso high that in passing through the cooling apparatus it will he higher than that de for the most comfortable living conditions.

Referring now to the drawing, l provide an air was x1.; and purifying unit comprising aclosed cabinet 11, divided into an upper and lower closed compartment. An iA` ated jacket l2 encirclcs the upper portion of the cabinet. ers earth provides a very satisfactory :fr ator in this portion inasmuch as its mineral components act to cool the water in the unit as well as provide lnsulation. However, other well known insulation may also be used. A more detailed descrip- :uting hood tion of this unit mayA he obtained from the specication oi copending application Serial Number 634,871 noted alcove, but hriey the air washing and purifying unit includes wi the cabinet l1, a tank 13 which-may he supplied with water iromthe ordinary city water main and pipe l or from bottled water with the bottle inverted and resting on a rubber gasket i6 laying on the upper rim of the 13 as shown in Fig. 1. The water passes from the tank 13 through a charcoal `ilter 17 and a brick or mineral lter 18 to collect in the bottom of the container 19. From the container 19 the ltered water passes through an outlet 21 in the bottom thereof, through a sliding` valve 22,`and into a chamber 23. From this chamber the water is sprayed through nozzles 24 and 25 into a corrugated annular chamber 26. Any desired number of pipes fromchamber 423 with nozzles opening into chamber 26 may be provided. Some water also passes through opening 27 in the bottom of the chamber 23 to drop onto a rubber i disk 28.

Air is drawn into the air purifying unit through holes 29 in the base of the cabinet, by means of spray-from both places collects and drops through the openings 34 to the trough 33. The amount of air drawn into the unit is proportionate to the speed of rotation of the fan and as this amount increases a greater volume of water is ordinarily necessary to wash and purify the air. The volume is automatically controlled by means of a sleeve 37 slidable on the fan shaft as a result of the action of a governor 38. The

sleeve 37 in turn operates the valve 22 through the arms 39'I 41 and shaft 42l to open or close said valve. The water spraying into the air of course humidies as well as washes the air, and if Athe humidity becomes excessive the valve 22 may be closed by manually turning the knob 43 on the shaft 42 which may then be locked in position by the latch 44. This may be accomplished without aiecting they operation of the fan inasmuch as the sleeve 37 acting to provide an automatic control of the valve 22 is slidable on the fan shaft and operated only by the action of the governor 38.

The air blown upwardly through the corrugated chamber 26 asa result of the operation of the fan 31, passes into an enlarged port 45 openy ing into the chamber 26I and from there into the connecting pipe 46 and through this pipe to a three way valve 47. 'Ihe pipe 46 is oval in shape to assist in carrying a maximum volume of air under` a forced draft. The oval shape makes it impossible to use the ordinary round coupling at the joints in the line, and a flexible coupling 48 is provided which readily assumes -the shape of the pipe 46 and provides a tight joint. An outlet 49 on the topof the valve may be opened so that the entire volume of purined-huinidied air from pipe 46 passes directly intothe roomin which the system is installed. The valve may also be turned so as to direct the air into an oval shaped pipe 50 with a exible coupling 51 and from the pipe carried into a cover 52 completely encasing an ordinary heating radiator 53. The air is directed by means of an inverted fan shaped hood 54 suitably connected to the pipe. 50 and mounted beneath the radiator 53. The hood 54 is shown more fully in Fig. 3 jin which it is illustrated as having an enlarged portion 55 adjacent the air inlet from the pipe 50 and tapering to a restricted portion lat the opposite end 56. By virtue of this tapering constructionl the air is evenly distributed over the entire length of the hood and after being deflected downwardly as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2 passes upwardly past the baffles 57 secured on both sides of the cover 52 and onto the radiator coils themselves. It is well known that a radiator when there is no heat in it is ordinarily considerably cooler than the temperature of the room in which Vit is installed. When encased as by the cover 52 so that it is not in direct contact with the warm or hot air of the room it has been found to be from 15 to 45 cooler than the room temperature. As the warmer air strikes the coils condensation occurs, and the resulting moisture collects and drops into a tray 58 mounted beneath the radiator which is provided with an outlet 59 to permit drainage of said tray. Evaporation of the moisture deposit on the radiator coil as a result of the condensation further cools said -coils so that as the air passes upwardly over the radiator y so as to direct the puri'ed-humidified air through a hood 62 similar in construction and mounting to hood. 54. A tray 63 resting on the bottom 64 of -the cover 52 with said tray .covering substantially the entire width of the bottom directly beneath the radiator 53 is filled with an absorbent material 65 so that the air from the hood 62 may be dehumidified as it is directed downwardly onto the material by virtue of the shape of said hood. As noted above, in certain sections of the country a high humidity may prevail for the greater part of the year or just during the summer season. In such a climate inasmuch as the air is drawn originally from the surrounding atmosphere and passed through the purifying and humidifying unit, it may become morehumid as it is cooled so that some means must be provided for removing at least a portion of this moisture in order that comfortable and healthful atmospheric conditions may be maintained in the room in which the system is installed. Very satisfactory results have been obtained in the use of dehydrated lime, silica gel, and pumice stone as an absorbent material 65 for dehumidifying the air. Any combination of these materials or any one singly vmay be used. It is of course understood, however, that other absorbent materials may also be used. A hinged door 66 pivoted at the bottom of the cover' 52 permits removal of the tray so as to replenish the supply of absorbent material.

After the air has passed over the absorbent material 65 to be dehumidified, it passes upwardly following the course of the arrows shown in Fig. 2, past the bales and onto the coils of the radiator 53. 'Ihe air becomes cooled as it passes over the coils and is then carried on through the screen 61 adjacent the top of the cover 52 into the room or building in which the system is installed.

during the winter time the radiator 53 is of course heated so that the conditioned air passing through the screen 61 is heated rather than cooled air. A closed storage tank 67 is provided on the top of the cover 52 with a screw cap 68 through which the tank may be lled with water. This water is heated by the radiator 53 and is fed to the system through pipe 69 which carries the heated water to the pipe 14 to be directed into the tank 13 to follow the regular path heretofore described. The heated water from the tank 13 is subsequently sprayed from the nozzles 24 and 25 and oi the plate 28 into the incoming air. By this time thev 150 water has cooled so that it will be below the temperature of the room and incoming air. This reduces the temperature of the air which is later distributed over the radiator and reduces the temperature of the iinal conditioned air. This has been found particularly beneficial in cases where the radiator is excessively hot as so commonly occurs. This cycle increases the eiilciency of the air conditioning system in the winter time in that the heat of the radiator is utilized to the fullest extent and provides very satisfactory results.

With the system as above described I have therefore provided a complete and simple air conditioning device. By utilizing the ordinary heating radiator, or any other heating coils which may be provided in a room or building, I simplify the entire structure and materially reduce the complete cost of the apparatus. The simplicity of the entire structure results in a minimum maintenance cost and increases the total emciency of the entire system. 'I'he system is fmthermore adapted for use in winter and summer and in a climate either of high or low humidity to provide comfortable, healthful living conditions.

It will be understood that the nature and embodiments of the invention, as a whole herein described and illustrated, are merely convenient and useful forms and that many changes and modications may be Vmade therein without departing from the support and scope of the in- Vention.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An air conditioner, adapted for connection with an air humidier and puriiier unit, comprising a heat radiator, a casing enclosing said radiator, puried-humidied air distributing means within said casing including a fan shaped hood extending longitudinally of the radiator with said hood having an enlarged portion adjacent the inlet of the casing and tapering to a constricted yportion at the other end whereby air ator, and air spray meanswithin the casing to spray-the air onto the radiator to cool or heat said air according to the non-heated or heated condition oi' the radiator, and a dehumidifier interposed in the path of the air between said air spray means and radiator to dehumidify the air before it is applied on said radiator for final conditioning.

3. An air conditioner, adapted for connection with an air humidifier and purier unit, comprising a heat radiator, a casing enclosing said radiator, air distributing means within the casing including an elongated inverted hood adapted to spray puried-humidied air onto said radiator to condition said air, and an outlet in said casing for discharging the conditioned air into the room in which the device is installed.

4. An air conditioner, adapted, for connection with an air humidier and purier unit comprising a heat radiator, a casing enclosing said radiator, air distributing means within the casing including a pair of elongated inverted hoods vertically spaced and mounted below the radiator adapted to spray puriiied humidied air in a downward and upward path onto the radiator,- dehumidifying means below one of said hoods in the path of the air from that hood to the radiator to dehumidify said air, and means for selectively directing the air into one hood or the other.

5. An air conditioner including a heating radiator, a 'casing enclosing said radiator, and air spray means carried within the casing having an elongated opening extending substantially the length of the radiator for distributing air over the same to condition said air, and an outlet in the casing for discharging the conditioned air into the room.

6. An air conditioner including a heating radiator, a casing enclosing said radiator, means carried within the casing beneath the radiator for directing a single column of air upwardly over the same to condition said air, said means including an elongated outlet having a single opening extending substantiallv the length of the radiator, and an outlet in the casing for discharging the conditioned air into the room.

JOHN C. WICEMANN. 

